Idaho Voices

During the past three years of these columns, one of the things that I’ve often pointed out about October, is that it is a transitional month. My husband, also a meteorologist, and I have noticed in the 10-plus years we’ve lived here, that the weather almost always seems to go downhill after about the first week of October. By downhill, I mean a rather rapid change from the warm and dry weather we experienced in September, to a much colder, unsettled pattern. Though many folks look forward to fall, it seems like the last vestiges of summer end so abruptly.

The Tango Café and Panhandle State Bank will host a dinner and auction Saturday to benefit Sandpoint Teen Center, “A Home Away from Home.” The event will be held at the cafe, 414 Church St. An opportunity to view the auction items will begin at 5 p.m.; dinner will be at 6 p.m.; and the live auction will begin at 7 p.m. The evening will include live music by Scott Kirby.

For 10-11-2009

BOISE – Air quality in smoky Idaho bars is worse than smog, according to a study by a prestigious Buffalo, N.Y., cancer institute. The Roswell Park Cancer Institute, working with the Coalition for a Healthy Idaho, found that fine-particulate air pollution in Boise bars that permit smoking is 36 times worse than outdoor pollution levels in the valley, and workers in the bars are exposed to four times the EPA’s standard for annual exposure.

Participants in a Cardboard Box City will converge on Corbin Park in Post Falls on Friday to draw attention to the plight of the homeless. The participants will spend the night in cardboard boxes, bringing with them at least $75 in pledges and donations for Family Promise of North Idaho, an organization that provides temporary emergency food and shelter to Kootenai County families. The money will support operations at Family Promise’s Day Center, a news release from the organization said.

Various forms of bread have been a staple in the diet of virtually every culture since man first decided to smear lizard jelly across a chewy hunk of unleavened barley flat cake during the new Stone Age. Over the years, the act of mixing ground-up grains and water with whatever else is handy has resulted in countless varieties, from Persian lavash and Ethiopian injera to Mexican tortillas and North American johnnycakes. Egyptians were the first to add yeast to the mix, and it has often been speculated that Cleopatra herself used to accompany her vessels of Star of Horus wine with mashed-up balls of Wonder bread.

Challenger Dan Gookin is off to an inauspicious start in the campaign debate circuit. First, he was asked by the Coeur d’Alene Police Association about referring in the past to respected police spokeswoman Christie Wood as “Sgt. Cupcake” and “a snake” and then loses the cops’ endorsement to incumbent Deanna Goodlander. Secondly, he stumbled badly in some people’s eyes when he closed his comments at the Reagan Republicans forum by telling conservative moderator Angela Monson of KQNT-AM/Spokane that she was too pretty to be on the radio. Also, he told Angela that she was sweet and continued to gush about her on his campaign blog. The Berry Pickers at Huckleberries Online split evenly when I asked what they thought of such a remark about a professional woman at a public forum, with 64 saying Gookin was simply being complimentary and friendly, and 63 saying he was “way out of line.” Dick Haugen, the former longtime news director of KVNI, punctuated a lengthy debate at Huckleberries Online re: the topic by stating: “All radio-types are HOT!!! Salute!” Pretty Woman II

Kootenai Health has pledged $250,000 to Hospice of North Idaho for the nonprofit’s Hospice House capital campaign. The amount will be paid over the next 10 years. “When Hospice of North Idaho was started in 1981, Kootenai Medical Center provided space in the hospital where they could begin their work,” said Joe Morris, CEO of Kootenai Health. “As our community has grown, the need for quality end-of-life care has grown too. Kootenai has four Circle of Life rooms to accommodate terminally ill patients, and we see Hospice House as a perfect complement to help meet that need.”

Today Charley Packard (Originals) – 6 p.m., Spuds Grill, 102 N. First, Sandpoint, (208) 265-4311.

Most have heard of the book or at least are familiar with its contents. Robert Fulghum’s “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” talks of important life lessons such as share, clean up after yourself, play fair. But what should parents do to prepare their children for that important kindergarten learning experience? Those are the tools that Sandpoint’s Ready! for Kindergarten organizers are eager to teach parents of preschool children.

Five years ago, members of the skateboard community in Sandpoint celebrated when they finally had a place to call their own – a concrete skate park. Last month, the skateboarders of Sandpoint again claimed victory as the City Council voted 4-2 to direct the Sandpoint city attorney to draft an ordinance that lifts a ban on human-powered transportation – with the exception of bicycles and wheelchairs – from navigating through the downtown corridor. The law pertains to the area bordered by First and Fifth avenues and Cedar and Pine streets. Under the new proposal, the sidewalks would still be reserved for pedestrian traffic only.

If silver items catch your eye, you’ll go cross-eyed or bug-eyed in Super Silver Coeur d’Alene. This new store at 116 N. Fourth St. (across from the Canton Restaurant) offers more than 35,000 sterling silver items. The 900-square-foot shop displays an amazing variety of rings (10,000 of them), chains, earrings, toe rings, pendants, anklets, necklaces, bracelets, pins and more in showcases and on boards. It’s done in a way so you can look at items individually and comparatively. And the owners emphasize that it’s all affordable.

Asking for help is never easy. But as the cost of living continues to increase, many people – especially seniors – are finding themselves having to make choices no one should have to make. This is something Alice Wallace witnesses almost every day. Wallace is director of Bonner County Food Bank in Sandpoint. Her mother, Florence Carter, started the food bank in 1980 and Alice took over in 1997, a time when the food bank served approximately 2,100 people each month.